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Dearest Readers, it isn't wrong to keep your head in the clouds... as long as you're still standing on something solid, like the top of the mountain, the back of a dragon, the shoulder of a giant, a flying carpet. \(˚▽˚)/
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THE HIDDEN SWORD: A TALE OF BALDUR'S GATE
Book One: From the Earth | Chapter 35: Pavilion of Clouds
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In a flash, the world changed, winding and empty corridors replaced by a circular chamber of stone, ceiling so high at thrice the height of the level she had come from. For a moment it reminded her of the halls of her old home and of the Great Library.
Innumerable candles scattered around the stone floor cast their faint glow and small torches ensconced in varying points high on the encircling wall provided more though scant illumination. Yet the room appeared empty.
Irse spun around, bewildered. Where's everybody?
The answer came from above - the harsh pitch of steel sliding out of their scabbards and the click of quarrels being loaded onto crossbows. Close to a panic, Irse sheathed the sword again, the fastest she had ever done. Teacher would've been proud.
Hands up in a gesture of surrender, Irse dared to raise her head. Above and around her, the attendees sat in small balconies spaced apart and of varying levels. On plaques upon the balusters of each terrace was carved a name of one of the four winds, the others the name of the seasons. In one of the balconies, she spotted the traitor standing next to a seated guest.
"That man, Eldoth Kron, is plotting to have you all slaughtered!" she warned them, pointing at him. Despite the dimness, her eyes could make out the flash of furious disbelief on his face as he grasped at the railings.
His master asked, "Is this true, what the elf says?"
Eldoth merely huffed, clearly feigning as if he were unruffled by the claim. "I knew her not until today when the dwarf supposedly sent her to augment our troop. I say she's in league with the spy we have been seeking among our ranks and means to deflect blame now that she cannot fulfill her devious plan."
"You must believe me. He and his men planned your deaths, I heard it out of their own mouths!" She hoisted the forged badges, dangling from her hand.
"These I took from their bodies. Eldoth must've told you he hired the Blackmauls to bolster the security tonight, but the people he brought with him are not. I know everyone in Kagain's company because I'm apprenticed to the blacksmith who supplies their weapons."
"Those prove nothing at all. The dwarf could have easily hired new men you've never met," Eldoth refuted confidently.
"And the dwarf may have allowed his new men to bring their own weapons," his master chimed in.
Irse ground her jaw. Sorry about this Mister Kagain but it might be the only way to make them believe her, she inwardly apologized.
"That'll never happen because he makes a profit off his men out of equipping them with weapons made by us. That is why I know every single one of the Blackmauls because none other than my Teacher and myself may hand it to them."
And she explained as briefly and as best as she could the little scheme Kagain proudly calls his company weapons plan. They make the weapons at a substantial discount, but the dwarf claws back the full cost from his mercenaries' pay. Everybody's happy and goes home with something, the greedy piece of coal says, for the men need not have their own swords to sign up and get to keep a good one for themselves while Kagain recoups his cost and even makes an easy profit.
Okami protested the unscrupulous arrangement at the outset but decided they could at least compensate and give the employees their lost pay's worth. Thus, the blacksmith ensured the best quality in their work, and the Blackmauls could always have them maintained, repaired, and even replaced for free.
Stunned silence descended upon every soul present. Unsurprising, for Irse had felt the same way when she first heard of it herself.
"Well, why didn't I think of something like that for my own laborers?" someone finally piped up.
"I might even garnish the cost of their tools at installments and add interest!" another suggested.
Irse winced. Never underestimate a merchant's capacity for ingenious profiteering.
"Sounds very much like old Kagain, and I would know for I have been hiring the Blackmauls to escort my caravans for years. Indeed, the girl knows him and must be speaking true," concurred a lady guest.
Without looking, Irse frantically pointed to her left at the balcony of the person who agreed. What she said.
"She lies," Eldoth dismissed, turning to his master. "I have been in your hire for some years now, and not once had I been disloyal. Will you take the word of a flighty pointy-eared slattern over mine?"
"He can be grating sometimes, a fool with his head in the clouds, refusing to let go of delusions of becoming a celebrated minstrel one day," the merchant replied, uncaring of Eldoth who visibly scowled at the jibe. "Yet he has always been reliable as a muscle, and now he speaks with reason. Indeed, why should I take the word of a stranger over the word of my own man?"
Irse curled her fists, exasperated. At the very least he might pause the gathering and make inquires.
"Because you will take the word of your own kin over the falsehoods of a scheming hireling, Uncle Aldeth!"
In one of the balconies, Dabron had risen from his seat and stepped forward.
Aldeth questioned his nephew, "You believe this elf? You know her?"
"On her word I stake my life just as she had saved it not many years ago."
A woman in another balcony interjected, "So this is her, the girl you met that day in the alley." She approached the baluster, the faint light revealing a lady attired in the robes of a mage, features unmistakably akin to Dabron's.
"Eldoth Kron, these are serious charges and she offers proof of your treachery. Both of you will come in peaceably and we shall investigate this matter fairly," the woman pronounced.
Eldoth gritted his teeth, face contorting with fury. "I will not explain myself… not to a group of dead men," he spat, drawing his sword.
"Now!" he cried. "Forget the others, it's the Sashenstars they want gone!"
At his word, the feigning Blackmauls trained their crossbows at the Sashenstars even as the guests fled shrieking with their personal retainers, while those in the terraces with Dabron or his kin turned upon their charges. A handful more of the mercenaries barged in, numbers aimed to overwhelm their targets. As for Eldoth, he faced Aldeth while the older man drew back his cloak and pulled out his own sword.
"Rietha! Your missiles!" Dabron shouted, himself and his personal guard engaged with the other mercenaries.
"I cannot! I had this room shielded within and without at everyone's suggestion," the woman yelled back even as she and her retainer defended themselves against the others. "I said no, what if we needed magic in here, but did anyone listen?" she ranted between swings of her staff.
Over the railings Dabron pleaded, "Irse! Help my Uncle! Please!"
The elf drew her sword, eyes searching for a quick way to get to the balcony. No apparent door showed itself here at ground level, no ladder, no stairs, no means for her to leap to that height without a place to spring from. Did people think elves were frog people?
Irse looked up, frustrated, helpless. Nothing more could be done other than stand there and read the name on the railings.
Wait!
She held up the wardstone and commanded, "Recall, Balcony Zephyr!"
In a blink she now stood at the corner of the terrace just as two other men rushed in from the door. Irse engaged them, the first putting up a bit of a fight until he saw his severed sword hand sailing over the baluster and wisely decided to flee lest he lose more, the second man seeing his comrade's bloody stump and wisely deciding to flee while still intact.
Hopefully the poor servants cleaning up this mess would be paid more than the fake Blackmauls, Irse mused, turning around to find Aldeth leaning heavily upon the rails, bleeding in a few places.
"Cheer up, my old Master. You still get to die a rich man, while I get to live as one," Eldoth taunted.
Irse launched herself at Eldoth, who then pivoted and whisked his scimitar. She dodged and skidded between him and Aldeth, casting a quick glance at Dabron who had now moved out and entered the adjacent verandas to engage the others.
"Kill him not, elf. I want him alive to answer for his treachery," the older Sashenstar ordered as he hauled himself over to a chair.
Irse rolled her eyes at the demand. Eldoth waved his scimitar, tracing wide arcs in the air between them while she lowered her sword to seigan, then they went at each other. Eldoth whipped his blade at the level, swift at swinging sides, forcing her to keep the katana in steady defense. This time he shifted his attack to a downstrike, pulling from behind. Irse raised her sword above head in uketomeru, aiming to flow from a block and descend to a side cut. But before steel touched steel, Eldoth pronated his wrist, cutting edge twisting to face up. Too late did she realize – the exaggerated back curve of the blade allowed the scimitar to slide unhindered over the prone katana, breaching, reaching her.
His simpering laughter stung more than the cut on her forehead. A drop strayed too close to the corner of her left eye. Sword kept up in one hand, with the other free she pressed the base of her palm against the wound to staunch the flow and futilely, the aftermath – not truly caring for the scar she would find in the mirror, but for the look on Okami's face when he sees. Briefly she wondered if this could be explained away as clumsiness and the rare sharp butterknife in a tankard house.
"What's the matter, dear? Lost some of your fabled elven grace? I wonder if your inexperience lends itself to other things?" he teased leeringly.
Give her a rusty hammer and she'll show him inexperience, Irse swore silently.
Once more they met and clashed, swinging and parrying. Another downstrike from him, but this time as Irse blocked, she propped the tip of the katana, blade resting between the thumb and forefinger of the free hand, and pushed in, forcing their swords to connect before Eldoth could twist and slip his over hers again. Sword hand pressed forward then down, blades dropping and sliding, driving Eldoth's scimitar low, leaving him open as she quickly brought up the hilt of the sword to his face.
He staggered backwards, a hand cupping his bleeding mouth. Triumphant, Irse wanted to kiss the butt of her weapon, but changed her mind for it had touched Eldoth's lips first. Better wipe it down with vinegar before giving it back to Okami.
"A first for me," he conceded, sneering with red-stained teeth. "That the same woman didn't fall for the same trick."
A bolt zipped between them. Dabron hastily spanned a crossbow seized from one of the mercenaries and reloaded.
"Surrender, you turncoat bastard," the younger Sashenstar shouted from his balcony as he aimed again.
Eldoth reached in and pulled something out of his jacket. Recognizing in his fingers the slender vial filled with purplish liquid, Irse raised a warning hand at Dabron and the others.
"Hold it! He's got an explosive potion!" she alerted them.
"Serving this house of pompous prigs feels exactly like carrying these little incendiaries on my person," he chuckled. "Close to my own heart," he proclaimed with poetic flourish, lightly tapping the tip of the bottle against his chest.
Has he gone mad? He cannot seriously be considering using the potions and killing himself along with everyone else, Irse wondered with dread. The elf sheathed her sword and inched closer, hands outstretched.
"Come now, there's no need to go that far. Tell them the whole truth and maybe they'll go easy on you," she entreated him.
"You're a fool to trust in the mercy of these highborns," Eldoth derided. "We're nothing but dust in their eyes, dust like what this tower will become."
He raised the potion, making to drop it to the ground between them. Irse lunged for him.
Then he grabbed and threw a chair.
It caught her squarely, barely managing to shield herself and Eldoth took the chance to rush out the door. Cursing all seating furniture in the realms, Irse took after him, chasing the bard through a winding maze of narrow corridors. Clearly disoriented from desperation, Eldoth missed an entrance leading to another passageway for he made a sharp turn which led him to a dead end. Cornered, the man thrust out the vial in a clear threat. They stared at each other, not daring to make the first move.
"Put it down. You have no idea how powerful it is," Irse warned, taking cautious steps forward.
"No, you have no idea how powerful they are," Eldoth rasped. "I'm as good as a dead man."
She leapt at him, grabbing for his arms. They grappled with each other, backs slamming against the walls until both fell to the floor, rolling and tangling. Amid the scuffle, Irse wrested the vial from Eldoth but he clung to her, clawing, and tearing.
Instinct or frenzied heedlessness, a thought sprang into mind – only one place she knew no one would be around to get hurt from an explosion.
Irse shouted one final command at the stone of recall.
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The world burst into wind and cold. In an instant she found herself face to face with the sky, still dark with a few glittering stars scattered behind clouds, the hour perhaps around godswake.
"This wasn't a good idea!" Irse cried, gripping at the bottle of explosive potion as if it were a prayer between her hands.
On their backs they skidded feet-first down the rafters of the spire. Remembering a thing or two from having helped Okami fix a roof, Irse slipped the vial into her pocket and yanked the sword out of her sash, still sheathed. With wild desperate strength, she turned and smashed and slammed the butt of the scabbard against the tiles even as she skimmed down the surface.
By Tethrin's pointy luck, the slates broke away and set off ahead a chain reaction of a column of tiles giving way, exposing the wooden battens beneath. Sword in one hand and with the other free, she managed to grab on to the last slat, yelping at the sudden wrench against her muscles. Eldoth's screams trailed behind him until he too found purchase in an already uncovered plank closer to the secondary rafter.
"Splendid! Just splendid, you blasted wench! Thanks to you, we have risen to the height of our miserable lives only to die from an ignominious fall," Eldoth ranted, voice muffled on occasion by the gale.
Irse rolled her eyes as she tucked the sword back into her sash. They wouldn't even be here at all if it weren't for his traitorous greed. But no sense wasting any more energy on a reply. Irse glanced up. At the top of the spire stood a massive weathervane. If they could somehow climb to that spot, they might find a more stable perch.
She called to him, motioned and gestured at the weathervane. Eldoth nodded his understanding of the plan and strained to haul himself up. A sickening crack echoed as the exposed wood decayed from seasons of rain and snow gave in beneath his hands. Eldoth lost grip and resumed his descent, both of them unable to contain a shriek of surprise. Through some stroke of mercy, he managed to grab on to the tiles at the edge of the bottom rafter which flared slightly outwards, allowing him a still dangerously precarious hold, feet now dangling in the air.
Irse stared wide-eyed in fear, for if his oily sweaty fingers didn't slip first, then the tiles will. Eldoth seemed aware as well.
"Help me! I can't hang on much longer!" he begged with genuine terror.
"I can't reach you from here! Try climbing up!"
Eldoth grimaced and struggled. A tile beneath one of his hands slid off and plunged into nothingness. He screamed and desperately clung to his remaining hold.
"Gods! Please… I don't want to die," he bawled.
Tethrin, what can she do, Irse prayed as her eyes darted to her own hands. The elf sighed and made a decision.
As delicately as she could manage, Irse untied the wardstone from her wrist and dangled it, reaching as far down as she could.
"I'll get you out of there, but first tell me who ordered the attack," she pried.
Eldoth wagged his head. "I don't know who, exactly! I swear on my life! They hid their faces from me. Sounded like, talked like… Sembians, I think. Offered me enough gold to pay off my debts so I can leave the Sashenstars for good!"
He sobbed and pleaded, "I'm telling the truth! I swear by the gods! Help me!"
"I'm dropping you this wardstone. It'll take you to any place in the tower." She pursed her lip, pausing to word her next instructions carefully. Either way, his treachery has been revealed and guards true to the Sashenstars should be swarming the tower by now if they haven't sealed it yet.
"Speak to it, say – Recall, and the name of the place, and it will take you there," she said, then laid the stone of recall on the surface, aiming it at Eldoth.
It skidded down and Eldoth reached out to intercept its slide. He caught the stone in his hand and wasting no time, not even a final glance at her, uttered the command.
"Recall, Eastern Side Gate," he barked at the stone and vanished.
Must have been the escape route one of his men spoke of. Irse sighed as she kept staring at the empty air where Eldoth had been. Nothing can be done about it now.
Resigned and drained, the elf let her shoulders fall slack. Face pressed against the tiles, Irse pounded a fist against the hard surface, closing her eyes against the sky and the clouds in the horizon.